Wu du (1978)

Director:

Cheh Chang

Writers:

Cheh Chang (writer)
Kuang Ni (writer)

Release Date:

12 August 1978 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

Pick Your Poison!

Plot:

A dying teacher instructs his final student to check on the activities of five former pupils, each of...

Plot Keywords:

Kung Fu | Mask | Martial Arts | Kung Fu Master | Judge

Cast

Sheng Chiang	...	Yang Tieh
Philip Kwok	...	He Yuan-xin, Gecko / Lizard (as Kuo Chui)
Feng Lu	...	Zhang Yiao-tian, Centipede
Pai Wei	...	Qi Dong, Snake
Chien Sun	...	Ma Chow, Scorpion
Meng Lo	...	Liang Shen, Toad
Lung Wei Wang	...	Judge
Feng Ku	...	Yuen
Shu Pei Sun
Liu Huang Shih
Lao Shen
Hui Huang Lin
Ching Ho Wang
Han Chen Wang
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Szu-ying Chien
Fai Wong Lam
Tung Ting
Dick Wei	...	Master (as Tu Lung)

Also Known As:

Five Venoms (International: English title) (UK) (video title)
Five Deadly Venoms (USA)
Ng duk (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
The Five Deadly Venoms (USA) (dubbed version)
The Five Venoms (Hong Kong: English title) (original subtitled version)

Runtime:

Hong Kong:97 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Canada:14A (Ontario) (re-rated 2009) | Canada:18A (Ontario) (re-rated 2005) | Canada:R (Ontario) (1979) | UK:18 | USA:R | Hong Kong:IIB

Company:

Shaw Brothers

Trivia:

The "snake" role was originally intended for a woman.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Near the end where Lizard, Scorpion and the last pupil confront Snake and Centipede at the Snake's home, Lizard addresses Centipede as, "Number 5." The Centipede was actually "Number 1," and was referred to as such throughout the rest of the movie. The Toad was "Number 5," and was referred to as such throughout the rest of the movie. This is undoubtedly an error in the English dubbing, not in the original Chinese dialogue.

Quotes:

Yang Tieh: Poison Clan Rocks the world!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Cinema Hong Kong: Kung Fu (2003) (TV)

Hidden Treasure

Most 70s (and 80s) Kong Kong martial arts films barely function as movies; usually there are a few well-planned fight sequences, but the plot is scraped pretty thin to fill in the gaps between those nodes -- like porno films, really.

But this one does several things well. Most overtly, there is the direction and choreography, which confines each combatant to a 'style' -- it's really based on Chinese circus acrobatics and comedic theater, but the effect works.

Second, there is the language of the camera, which uses some impressive techniques(even by today's measure), changing projection speeds from real time time to slow motion, and from unfiltered to filtered views to depict story direction toward the past or toward the future.

Least overt, but most powerful and unexpected, is the construction. The winner of this contest is determined by who 'unfolds' the story. The master (the writer) sets up a game where the lead character doesn't know who he's seeking, which is the same situation we viewers find ourselves in. One by one, he figures out who is who, at the same rate we find out who is who. It all follows a tragedy/noir arc. The ending tends toward irony, a la "The Sting". Much more clever stuff than what we usually get out of this genre.

The 'five venoms' idea is the template for Tarantino's 'deadly viper assassins' from the "Kill Bill" volumes.